Israel sends troops into Lebanon, US embassy hit as conflict spreads

The conflict sparked by the US/Israeli attack on Iran continued to spread through the region on Tuesday.

Drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh and more explosions rang out in Gulf cities as Iran hit back at industrial and diplomatic targets across the Middle East and governments sought to evacuate their nationals from the region.

As Israel authorized its forces to "advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon" and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his country "is not going to rule out anything," the UN human rights office urged the "forces" behind a lethal attack on a girls' school in Iran to investigate and share insights into the "horrific" incident. 

The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed strikes had hit a previously bombed uranium-enrichment plant, but Russia said "We still see no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, which was the main, if not the only, justification for the war."

The conflict has also caused chaos in global air transport and shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world's oil trade skirts the Iranian coast, sending oil prices surging. 

Israel 'stages ground incursion into south Lebanon border zone'

Israeli forces advanced into a border area in Lebanese territory on Tuesday, a Lebanese army source said, shortly after the Israeli defense minister instructed his troops to "take control of additional strategic positions in Lebanon".

"Israeli ground forces advanced from Kfar Kila and the Khiam plains," along the Lebanon-Israel border, the source said, requesting anonymity and expressing concern over "Israel's attempt to establish a broad security belt in south Lebanon".

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and PM Benjamin Netanyahu "have authorised the IDF to advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon in order to prevent fire on Israeli border communities".

Katz added Israel is determined to "defend the border communities", saying: "We promised security to the communities of the Galilee, and that is what we will deliver."

At least 30,000 displaced people have sought protection in shelters in Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on Monday, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

"Conservative estimates suggest that nearly 30,000 people were hosted and registered at collective shelters," said UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch. "Many more slept in their cars on the side of roads or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads."

Iran's drones strike neighboring countries

Early on Tuesday, two drones, apparently from Iran, struck the US embassy in Riyadh, causing minor damage and starting a fire, and at least eight more drones were intercepted before reaching the city, Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia condemned the embassy attack and stressed it reserved its full right to take all necessary measures to defend its security and vital interests, including the option of responding to any aggression, a foreign ministry statement said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its navy had destroyed the main command building and headquarters of a US air base in Bahrain in what it described as "Operation True Promise 4".

It said 20 drones and three missiles had struck their intended targets at the base in the Sheikh Isa area.

Explosions also shook buildings across Tel Aviv as Israel's air defenses intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.

US orders personnel to leave several Gulf states

The US State Department ordered non-emergency US government personnel and family members to leave the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan and closed several diplomatic missions across the region.

The US Mission to Saudi Arabia was closed following a drone attack, with Americans in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran told to continue sheltering in place.

The US Embassy in Kuwait said it would remain closed until further notice, and all regular and emergency consular appointments were cancelled.

In Israel, the US Embassy said it was not in a position to evacuate or directly assist Americans seeking to leave the country and advised citizens to make their own security plans.

US secretary Rubio 'not going to rule out anything'

The US military said it had struck more than 1,250 targets in Iran so far and destroyed 11 Iranian ships. Six US service personnel have been killed, all in Iran's retaliatory attacks over the weekend on Kuwait.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked how long he expected his country to be engaged in Iran, said: "We believe the objectives we have set for this mission, the destruction of (Iran's) ballistic missile capabilities, both launch capabilities and manufacturing, can be achieved without ground forces.

"Right now we are not postured for ground forces. But obviously the president has those options and he is not going to rule out anything."

Rubio told reporters that the US had acted pre-emptively because it knew of its close ally Israel's plan to strike Iran and knew Tehran would respond, putting US bases at risk.

Trump said he had ordered the attack to thwart Tehran's nuclear program and a ballistic missile program that he said was growing rapidly.

Iran has denied it is seeking nuclear weapons and said the US and Israeli assault was unprovoked, occurring as Tehran and Washington were in negotiations on a nuclear accord.

Trump withdrew from a prior international agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program during his first term in 2018, three years after it was signed.

A weekend Reuters/Ipsos poll suggested only one in four Americans supported the Iran attack.

Russia, China and Türkiye have condemned the war. Britain, an ally of Washington's, has reluctantly allowed US forces to use British bases for what it calls "defensive" strikes on Iranian weaponry.

Netanyahu says US-Israeli war on Iran 'not going to take years'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war against Iran was "not going to take years", as the conflict widened with Israel again attacking the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Iran striking Gulf states that host US bases.

US President Donald Trump, who launched strikes on Iran together with Israel on Saturday, initially projected the war to last four to five weeks, but has since sought to justify a broad, open-ended war.

Netanyahu rejected the idea of the conflict lasting years, like previous wars in the region.

"I said it could be quick and decisive. It may take some time, but it's not going to take years. It's not an endless war," Netanyahu said on Monday.

Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told an online briefing that the duration of the military campaign could change, depending on developments, adding: "We have prepared a general scope of weeks."

Asked if Israel could deploy ground forces to Iran, Shoshani said that was unlikely.

UN urges investigation into 'horrific' attack on Iran school

The UN human rights office urged the "forces" behind an attack on a girls' school in Iran to investigate and share insights into the "horrific" incident, without naming them.

"The High Commissioner (Volker Turk) calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack. The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it," UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva press briefing.

"This is absolutely horrific," Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating on social media captured "the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict".

Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ali Bahreini had previously raised the issue with Turk in a letter dated March 1, calling the attack "unjustifiable" and "criminal".

Turk's office does not have enough information to make a determination as to whether the strike constituted a war crime, Shamdasani said.

Rubio said US forces "would not deliberately target a school", after Iranian state media reported over 160 were killed on the first day of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

IAEA confirms entrances to Iran's Natanz enrichment plant were bombed

Entrances to Iran's underground and previously bombed uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz have been struck as part of the US-Israeli military attacks on the country, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed on Tuesday.

The underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) is one of Iran's three uranium-enrichment plants that are known to have been operating when Israel and the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.

"Based on the latest available satellite imagery, IAEA can now confirm some recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran's underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant," the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.

"No radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely damaged in the June conflict," it added.

Russia says it has seen no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow had still seen no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons.

Lavrov told Brunei's foreign minister during talks in Moscow: "We still see no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, which was the main, if not the only, justification for the war."

He said the consequences of the attack on Iran were being felt throughout the region, and that Arab countries were bearing economic costs and suffering casualties.

He reiterated Russia's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities by all parties, saying "As an unconditional first step, we must do everything possible to stop any actions that result in civilian casualties," and citing the school bombing.

Thousands of Gulf flights canceled

The conflict has thrown global air transport into chaos and shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world's oil trade skirts the Iranian coast, sending oil prices surging. 

Major Gulf hubs, including the world's busiest international airport Dubai, which usually handles over 1,000 flights a day, remained closed for a fourth day. That has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded.

Asian airline shares extended losses, with carriers closely monitoring fuel price spikes and bookings surging as passengers switch from Middle Eastern airlines.

Global oil and gas shipping rates soared, with supertanker costs in the Middle East hitting all-time highs, after Tehran targeted ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping data and industry sources.